Adverbiality

lit-lorn-strait

Dear Geist,
In the sentence “Unfortunately, it began to rain,” what part of speech is unfortunately?
—Minou, Vancouver
Dear Minou,
It’s a conjunctive adverb: adverb because it modifies the clause “it began to rain,” and conjunctive because it connects independent clauses (in your example, the previous sentence and “it began to rain”). While we’re on the subject, we should add that unfortunately, however, meanwhile, furthermore, hence and other conjunctive adverbs are usually employed to smooth out transition between sentences, but your prose will be stronger if you write organic transitions and use the CAs sparingly. Also, if you live in Vancouver, it would be a good idea to get used to the rain.
—The Editors